DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Apr. 16, 2020) – For the sixth year in a row, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2019-20 season, with all 10 sports represented.
Mercy College Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Thursday for the next ten weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2019-20 athletic year being unveiled on Thursday, June 11th.
No. 9 – Softball Gets Off to Best Four-Game Start Since 2017
Coming in at No. 9 in our 2019-20 Top-10 Moments is softball who got off to their best four-game start since 2017.
The Mavericks were picked fourth in the ECC Preseason Poll and junior Hannah Mueller was tabbed ECC Preseason Player of the Year after Mercy went 24-26 last year and just missed qualifying for the ECC Tournament.
Mercy headed down to South Carolina for their annual trip to Francis Marion to open up the 2020 season. The Mavericks started their 2020 campaign on February 14th when they played host Francis Marion. Mercy jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second, but the Patriots answered with 14 runs in the bottom of the inning and came away with a 14-5 win to improve to 9-1.
The next day Head Coach Mike Fazio and the Mavericks faced Chowan and Mars Hill. Mercy started the day with a matchup against Chowan, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two innings of play. The Hawks tied the game up at 4-4 in the top of the third with four runs on three hits. The Mavericks regained the lead in the fourth inning with five runs on six hits to take a 9-4 lead. Junior Danielle Burgos recorded a three-run triple, freshman Samantha Franck produced an RBI double and sophomore Jessica Brandt singled home Franck to give Mercy a five-run lead.
Chowan plated three runs in the sixth inning to make it 9-7, but the Mavericks added on a run in the sixth inning and held on for the 10-7 win to improve to 1-1 on the year. Burgos went 3-for-4 with three RBI and Mueller went 3-for-4 with two RBI. Freshman Alexi Benson pitched a complete game with just one earned run allowed and six strikeouts to pick up her first collegiate win.
In the second game of the day, Mars Hill took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second. Mercy tied the game up in the bottom of the inning when freshman Hailey Puglia doubled home sophomore Ariana Ricci. The Lions added on three runs in the third and one in the fourth to build a 5-1 lead.
Mercy battled back with six runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-5 lead. Burgos and Franck drew bases-loaded walks to make it 5-3. Sophomore Ylannah Bowman singled home freshman Nicole Smart and Burgos also scored following an error by the left fielder to make it 5-5. Freshman Sydney Johnston then stepped up and delivered an RBI single to center to give Mercy the lead and Ricci drove in the final run of the inning on a groundout to make it 7-5. The Mavericks scored two more runs in the sixth inning to increase the lead to 9-5. Sophomore Sabrina Gonzalez pitched a scoreless seventh inning to secure the win for the Mavericks. Franck went 1-for-3 with two RBI and Bowman went 1-for-2 with an RBI in the game. Gonzalez tossed a complete game with three earned runs allowed to pick up the win.
The Mavericks concluded their South Carolina trip on February 16th when they faced Chowan again. The Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first before junior Casey Akers tied the game up in the second inning with an RBI single.
Mercy took the lead for good with four runs in the bottom of the third to take a 5-1 lead. Johnston plated the first run with an RBI single, Ricci drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-1 and Johnston later scored on a Hawk error to give Mercy a 4-1 lead. Akers brought home the final run of the inning with an RBI single to give the Mavericks a 5-1 advantage. It stayed 5-1 until the bottom of the fifth when Akers hit a two-run double to left field to make it 7-1. The win improve Mercy to 3-1 which was their best four-game start since starting 4-0 during their ECC Championship season of 2017.
Akers went 3-for-3 with a career-high four RBI and Johnston went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Sophomore Katelyn Shephard pitched four innings with one run allowed and four strikeouts to earn the win.
Following the 3-1 start, sophomore Alexis Crawford was tabbed ECC Player of the Week, Gonzalez was named Pitcher of the Week, Johnston was named Rookie of the Week and Akers and Franck were tabbed to the Honor Roll.
The Mavericks ended the shortened season 5-5 with their final two games being 10-5 and 22-5 wins over Bowie State on March 1st. After those wins, Mueller was named ECC Player of the Week and Johnston was tabbed Rookie of the Week. Bowman and junior Jessica Becchetti were also named to the Honor Roll following the sweep.
Despite the shortened season, the Mavericks have several key pieces returning to next year's team and will look to once again compete for an ECC Tournament spot.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2019-20 Season
Every Thursday for the next ten weeks, the Mercy College Athletics Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Thursday, April 9th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Thursday, June 11th.
No. 1 – June 11th
No. 2 – June 4th
No. 3 – May 28th
No. 4 – May 21st
No. 5 – May 14th
No. 6 – May 7th
No. 7 – April 30th
No. 8 – April 23rd
No. 9 – April 16th
No. 10 – John Mooradian, Miguel Ortiz Sanchez and Anthony Murphy Reach Career Milestones and Move up in Baseball Record Book
